1981 International League season

BR minors page

The 1981 International League season was the 96th in the league's history, and ended with the Columbus Clippers becoming the first team in league history to win three straight Governors' Cups.

The Clippers were the first IL team to win three consecutive titles since the Rochester Red Wings won four in a row from 1928 to 1931.

Columbus won a rain-shortened final series over the Richmond Braves. After Game Three on September 16, two more days of rain prompted the farm directors of the Braves and Yankees to contact IL president Harold Cooper and suggest the rest of the series be canceled. Cooper declared the Clippers champions. There were 10 rainouts in total during the playoffs.

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Columbus Clippers	88	51	.633	--	Frank Verdi	New York Yankees
Richmond Braves	83	56	.597	5	Eddie Haas	Atlanta Braves
Tidewater Tides	70	68	.507	17½	Jack Aker	New York Mets
Rochester Red Wings	69	70	.496	19	Doc Edwards	Baltimore Orioles
Charleston Charlies	67	72	.482	21	Cal Emery/Frank Lucchesi	Cleveland Indians
Pawtucket Red Sox	67	73	.479	20½	Joe Morgan	Boston Red Sox
Syracuse Chiefs	60	80	.429	27½	Bob Humphreys	Toronto Blue Jays
Toledo Mud Hens	53	87	.379	27½	Cal Ermer	Minnesota Twins

Playoffs

	First Round					Governors' Cup Finals
	1	Columbus Clippers	3
	4	Rochester Red Wings	2
						1	Columbus Clippers	2
						2	Richmond Braves	1
	2	Richmond Braves	3
	3	Tidewater Tides	2

First Round

Columbus vs. Rochester Date Away Home September 7 Columbus 2 Rochester 3 September 9 Columbus 6 Rochester 9 September 10 Rochester 2 Columbus 10 September 11 Rochester 0 Columbus 7 September 12 Rochester 1 Columbus 2 10 innings Columbus wins series 3-2

Richmond vs. Tidewater Date Away Home September 4 Tidewater 5 Richmond 4 September 5 Tidewater 1 Richmond 2 September 6 Richmond 1 Tidewater 2 11 innings September 9 Richmond 7 Tidewater 2 September 10 Richmond 5 Tidewater 2 Richmond wins series 3-2

Governor's Cup Finals

Columbus vs. Richmond Date Away Home September 13 Richmond 5 Columbus 6 12 innings September 15 Richmond 12 Columbus 3 September 16 Columbus 5 Richmond 1 Columbus wins series 2-1

League Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average Wade Boggs, Pawtucket, .335
• Runs Scored Brett Butler, Richmond, 93
• Hits Boggs, 167
• Doubles Boggs, 41
• Triples J.J. Cannon, Syracuse, 11
• Home Runs Steve Balboni, Columbus, 33
• Runs Batted In Balboni, 98
• Stolen Bases Dallas Williams, Rochester, 51

Pitching

• Wins Ken Dayley, Richmond; Larry McWilliams, Richmond, 13
• Earned Run Average Bob Ojeda, Pawtucket, 2.13
• Complete Games Tom Brennan, Charleston; Tom Dixon, Tidewater, 11
• Shutouts Brennan, 6
• Strikeouts Dayley, 162
• Saves Dale Murray, Syracuse, 16

All-Star Team

• First Base Greg Wells, Syracuse
• Second Base Brian Giles, Tidewater
• Shortstop Andre Robertson, Columbus
• Third Base Cal Ripken Jr., Rochester
• Outfield Sam Bowen, Pawtucket; Brett Butler, Richmond; Gary Rajsich, Tidewater
• Catcher Chris Bando, Charleston
• Designated Hitter Steve Balboni, Columbus
• Pitcher Dale Murray, Syracuse; Bob Ojeda, Pawtucket
• Manager Eddie Haas, Richmond

References

Brian Bennett, On A Silver Diamond: The Story Of Rochester Community Baseball from 1956-1996. Triphammer Publishing, 1997.

The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. W. Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, editors. Baseball America, 1993.

1982 Baseball Guide

External Links

1981 Rochester Red Wings review – On A Silver Diamond

1981 IL - The Baseball Cube